Zimbabwean businessman Wicknell Munodaani Chivayo, popularly known as "Sir Wicknell", has died in a helicopter crash near Marondera, together with his wife, Lucy "Lulu" Muteke. The accident happened at around 5pm on Wednesday, September 30, 2026. Six people were on board, and the government says none of them survived. As the country mourns, many people are asking who this man really was, how he rose to fame, and why his name carried so much weight in Zimbabwe and beyond.
Chivayo was born on November, 22, 1982 in Chivhu, a small town in Mashonaland East province. He grew up in the Gandami area of Chivhu. Not much has been published about his childhood or his first steps in business, and he kept many details of his early life private. What is clear is that he went from a small-town background to one of the most talked-about business names in the continent.
He was the founder and managing director of Intratrek Zimbabwe (Private) Limited, a company that has been linked mostly to energy and infrastructure work. Over the years, Intratrek became known for winning government tenders, and that is where both his success and his troubles came from. To his admirers, he was a young man who made it big in a tough economy. To his critics, he was a businessman whose fortunes were tied too closely to people in power.
His most famous project was the Gwanda solar power plant. In 2015, Intratrek was awarded a contract to build a 100-megawatt solar station in Gwanda. The Zimbabwe Power Company paid an advance of US$5 million, but the company did not do substantial work on the project. The matter went to court, and Chivayo faced several rounds of criminal prosecution over the money. He was finally acquitted in 2024. The Gwanda project remained a talking point for years, with many Zimbabweans questioning delays and how the funds were handled. Chivayo often defended his work publicly.
Another controversy came in 2024, when leaked audio recordings linked him to a US$100 million contract to supply election materials to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission. The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission investigated and announced in December 2025 that it had found no evidence directly linking him to that transaction. He never stopped being a subject of debate, but he also never stopped being visible.
Chivayo was closely associated with President Emmerson Mnangagwa and the ruling ZANU-PF party, and he did not hide it. His social media pages showed him moving in high circles. According to the Mail & Guardian, he visited several African leaders, including Uganda's Yoweri Museveni, Nigeria's Bola Tinubu, Tanzania's Samia Suluhu Hassan and Kenya's President William Ruto. Photos of him standing next to Ruto were shared widely by Kenyans online. The newspaper noted that he rarely explained the reason for these visits, and he declined to answer its questions about them.
Away from business and politics, he was loved and criticised in equal measure for his lifestyle. He showed off luxury cars, private flights and expensive gifts, and he was never shy about his wealth. Some websites put his net worth at about US$100 million, but that figure is an estimate and has not been independently verified. What people could see for themselves was a man who enjoyed being in the spotlight and who often used his money in public ways.
Football was one of the areas where he spent generously. Earlier this year, he promised to help Highlanders, one of Zimbabwe's biggest clubs, avoid a FIFA transfer ban by paying fees owed to a former coach. More recently, he arrived at the National Sports Stadium in a helicopter during a CAF Champions League match between Scottland FC and Nsingizini Hotspurs of Eswatini. After Scottland won 1-0, he reportedly rewarded the players with US$100,000. Moments like these made him popular with many ordinary fans, even as others questioned where his wealth came from.
His personal life also got plenty of attention. In 2017, he married Sonja Madzikanda, and the two divorced in 2024. In 2025, he married Lucy Muteke, in a lobola ceremony that became a major talking point. Media reports said he spent about US$300,000 during the celebrations, although he later played down the figures. Days after the ceremony, armed robbers attacked the family of his new wife in Marondera and stole about US$75,000 of the money. The police arrested three suspects and launched a hunt for the others. He also announced gifts for his wife, including a Range Rover and a Toyota Land Cruiser 300 Series. He had two children.
It is a painful twist that Marondera, the town connected to the lobola robbery, is now where the couple died. The Zimbabwe Republic Police said an aircraft crashed in the Marondera Rural area, about 74 kilometres southeast of Harare. Government spokesperson Nick Mangwana then confirmed that the helicopter was carrying one high-profile businessman, three other passengers and two pilots, and that there were no survivors. The family spokesperson, Herbert Chivayo, confirmed the deaths of the couple to the state broadcaster ZBC News and said the family was struggling to accept the loss.
The cause of the crash has not been announced. Details such as the type of helicopter, its destination and the weather at the time have not been made public. Aviation investigations usually take time, so the public is advised to wait for official findings instead of believing rumours.
One rumour already doing the rounds is an old tweet from May 2025, in which a user said Chivayo would die in a plane crash and told others to save the post. The tweet has gone viral again since the tragedy.
Wicknell Chivayo leaves behind a mixed legacy. He was a bold dealmaker, a generous sponsor of sports, a fashion and luxury icon on social media, and at the same time a man followed by court cases and questions about his connections. Whichever side people take, nobody can deny that he left a mark on Zimbabwe's business and social scene. His death, together with that of his wife, has shocked a region that watched their lives unfold online.
We will update this story as police release the official list of victims and as investigators share more about what caused the crash.
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